GFFL
Every year I have a renewed faith in the Cowboys. Like every single year. For me as a fan, it doesn’t matter to me the last time the Cowboys won a Super Bowl or even if they went to the playoffs the previous year. The only thing that matters is - a new season has begun; therefore my faith for another winning season is renewed.
Storytime: September 9, 2021, was the kickoff game for the NFL season and of course my team the Cowboys were playing and I’m excited. To show my excitement, I even wore Cowboys gear while working from home, virtually. #mindyourbusiness😂
Anywho, while I was going back and forth with some Cowboys haters on social media, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said if only your faith was renewed in me every time things didn’t go as you prayed. I’m like say what?!!! 🙃
I’m thinking man, God knows how to snatch my edges. 😂 Does he talk to y’all like this too? Lol.
But he’s so right - we pray for things to go one way and God has a different plan and then we are lowkey upset about it. But what if every time we felt disappointed by God because we didn’t get our way (which probably wasn’t the best decision anyway), we decide to renew our faith in him. Because just like I continue to give the Cowboys another chance - he’s the God of another chance for us! He continues to forgive us over and over again. And he can make everything that happens to me work for my good! 🥰
Would you consider being a God Fan For Life (GFFL)?
“This I recall to my mind, Therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, Because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: Great is thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:21-23 KJV
Watch Your Mood
I was listening to a sermon by Dr. Darius Daniels entitled, Mood to Movement. In the sermon, he talked about how your mood (your emotions) can impact your movement. I felt convicted because I immediately thought about past situations in which my negative mood interfered with my movement.
Y’all want an example? Okay, good. I’ll share.?
Storytime: Some of y’all aren’t going to believe this, but I used to go from 0 to 100 in a matter of moments. ?
One embarrassing moment I can remember from about 12 years ago is when I was at a department store and I was trying to purchase a skirt set for an internship interview. Y’all the skirt set was on the rack together and it fit me perfectly. When it was time for me to pay, the cashier told me I couldn’t purchase the items because the skirt and blazer were different sizes. Y’all my mood changed drastically. I went from being excited about finding my interview outfit to immediately being upset at this lady. Shamefully, my mood changed my disposition and everything else. ? Thankfully, my sister was there with me and she saved the day.
Side note: Because of my sister’s calm mood, I was able to get the suit and I was hired for the internship as well! ??
But what if my sister wasn’t there - I could have allowed my mood to impact a moment - which would have impacted my coin flow in college.
I could have gotten the suit without my sister’s help if I would not have allowed my mood to impact my movement and mouth.
Question: How have you allowed your mood to impact your movement?
“Don’t be quick to fly off the handle. Anger boomerangs. You can spot a fool by the lumps on his head.” Ecclesiastes 7:9 MSG
Unhurried
My friend was teaching me words and phrases in French such as my name is and how are you.
I would tell y’all how to say it, but you can ask Siri or Google - I’m still working on my pronunciation. ?
I remember asking them a question, in which they replied in French saying I’ll do it later. So I asked, how do you say now or immediately and they explained certain words don’t translate from English to French. Based on their culture they are never in a rush, they take their time to relax and enjoy moments. They also explained rushing and doing things in a hurry is a concept learned in America. I was taken back by this, but I started to ponder about this because a Bible study I attended a few days earlier - spoke about the art of rest and additionally my pastor recently completed a series about rest. #mindblown
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus never hurried to get anywhere, he always took his time?
When he heard Lazarus was dying - he delayed a few days and took his time making it back to his friends.
Or when the storm was happening on the boat, Jesus was unbothered and was asleep. Listen, that’s the kind of peace I want to have - where you can rest in the middle of the storm.
As my vacation ends, I’m going to continue to operate from a place of rest - not striving, not over hurrying, but resting! I hope you guys can feel how restful my vacation was through this photo.
Question of the week: How can you un-hurry this week and slow down?
Yellow Brick Road
Every day we have to make so many decisions. Google stated on an average day, we make over 35,000 decisions a day. That’s a lot! Some of the decisions are easy, like getting out of bed or eat this for lunch, etc… But other decisions are tough and may require us to seek our Heavenly Father for help. One of my go to scriptures for when I’m seeking direction is:
“Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” Psalms 119:105 NASB2020
When I read scriptures, I like to dissect them. I study each word intentionally and think about the visual illustration which is provided.
I’m going to share with y’all the visual I see when I read this scripture: God's words are like a lamp I carry when I’m going through a dark place. Without the words of God being my lamp, there’s darkness - I can’t see my next step. But with the words of God he provides a lamp - which is a light in a dark place and I’m able to see the path he wants me to take. Honestly, when I read this - it is as God is saying to me follow this yellow brick road that I have paved and lit up just for you.
So my encouragement for you is that if you are unsure of what path to take with a decision allow God to be your lamp and light up the path he wants you to take.
Repurpose
This blog was inspired by a conversation with a friend.
Storytime: I was sharing my birthday photos with a friend and was letting her know the story behind my dress in the photo. I explained I purchased this beautiful dress in February of 2020 to wear for a friend’s Birthday photo photoshoot in Paris. Then Covid happened. My trip planned for March 2020 was postponed to July 2020 and then it was eventually canceled. Woosah.
I’m sure like me, we all remember when we thought Covid would be over in a month or two, and unfortunately, it is currently still ongoing- and launched into a full global pandemic. That’s still mind-boggling.
But any-who, what was I supposed to do with this beautiful dress? I couldn’t return it. Therefore, I decided to repurpose the dress and wear it as my birthday dress. Whoop! ??
So, what are you supposed to do with your events planned or outfits you haven’t worn due to the pandemic? - You repurpose it!
Turn the event into a zoom event, wear the outfit to your living room party or a random mailbox trip, or a Tuesday at the park. Remember you don’t need a reason or a special occasion to wear something - wear it or celebrate it whenever you want!
Tuning out the Noise
So, I’m a huge fan of the Olympics. It’s amazing to watch people from around the world who trained vigorously compete against the world’s best.
Fun fact: I binged watched as many hours of the Olympics as I could this weekend. My favorite competitions are the synchronized divers, gymnastics, and track and field.
Sorry, I digressed. ? But, while watching the Olympics I realized a majority of the Athletics wore noise-canceling headphones or AirPods before their event began. While the arenas were closed to outside fans, I’m sure it was still very loud in the stadium and they needed to concentrate and not be distracted by outside noise from announcers, other competitors, etc…
I thought to myself, how often do I sit, disconnect from the noise and tune into what God is saying. Well, starting in August, I’m going to do just that. I’ll be off social media for a while to silence some noise and will be spending more time with God. Remember, it’s important to be intentional and prioritize our relationship with God over things. It’s hard to hear God’s soft gentle voice if there’s a lot of noise.
“and after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” 1 Kings 19:12 KJV
Happy Birthday Trina
Today is your birthday - a milestone birthday at that, but don’t worry I will not tell anyone how old you are. Lol
I have so many fond memories of you. You lead the sunshine band at church, singing Yolanda Adams’ song, My Everything.
Cues song ?, ”For waking me up this morning. For making a way out of no wayYou've been mighty good to me…”
In addition, you always gave us the cutest hairstyles and ensured our edges were laid. Thanks to you, I still love a good braided bob and box braids in a bun.
Side note: That braided bun sometimes felt like fire was going through our heads. But we were cute. ?
I will say my best memory is when you kept mama from giving me a Jheri curl. To anyone who has a curl, I’m sure it looks great on you. But, for me, I didn’t want one and my mom was one hair store visit away from buying the kit until my sister came to the rescue. ? I’ll never forget this memory.
Any-who cheers to an amazing birthday! I pray God favors you in this season of your life and gives you many more years to come.
Love,
Wren
“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvellous are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well.” Psalm 139:14 KJV
Ordered Steps
I know people say, what you don’t know can’t hurt, but that’s a lie. I was working on a project at work and I didn’t know I should get permission before I implemented something - guess what that missed step could have hurt me if I wouldn’t have asked someone. ?
I think about even when I’m cooking, it is probably better for me to follow the steps of the recipe in order vs. skipping steps. If I jump to putting my cake in the oven before mixing the ingredients, something with that cake isn’t going to be right. Lol.
The whole idea of having steps ordered makes me grateful for how intentional my Heavenly Father is. He ordered our steps before we wore born.
How cool is that?!!!
I know we think we know what’s best for us often, but we should follow his ordered steps. It will save us a lot of time and energy.
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: And he delighteth in his way.”
Psalm 37:23 KJV
Keep Dreaming
I feel like I was often told, work hard, get a job that pays well, save money and then retire. In all honesty, that plan sounded good until recently- it feels like I’m playing it safe. But, what about the feeling you have when you know God has called you to do something great for his kingdom that is bigger than a 9-5 job?
What do you do then?
For me, I’ve been praying, talking to God, writing the vision, and pursuing my purpose and destiny. The thing I’m learning about your destiny is it will keep reappearing and pursuing you even if you try to ignore it. I mentioned in my blog on Friday that the self-publishing event I created was a faith step.
So, I encourage you that a dream deferred is not a dream that is dead.
Don’t give up on your dream and what God has told you even if it feels like there are stumbling blocks and or walls blocking you from moving forward. Remember, all God needs is a mustard seed of our faith and for us to trust him even when the pieces of our life seem scattered and unorganized.
He’s the same God that causes the wall of Jericho to crumble down (scripture reference Joshua 6:1-27), so he can remove our stumbling blocks or create a door or an opening for you and me!
Remember the scripture says, “Is there anything too hard for God?” - and we already know the answer to this! - Jeremiah 33:27
Working through Fear
Y’all ever wanted to start a new project or launch an event or anything and your nerves are going crazy? Well, that’s me.
I’ve been wanting to have a class for future authors who want to self-published, but I’ve been so nervous. If allowed fear can cripple you. It allows you to be in a place of comfort in which you always know you are safe instead of living in the unknown or stepping into uncharted territories.
So, how do you get past this fear? I think getting past the fear is different for everyone, for me, I have to create the event. Will people come? Umm idk, but I’ll never allow them to come and share their story if I don’t step forward.
Therefore, I’ve created an event to help authors who want to share their stories. The link is below and is my bio. Am I scared? Heck ya. Will people show up? That’s TBD. ?
But... this scripture below really helped me because God is with me and holding my right hand. ?
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Isaiah 41:10 KJV
Link to Event:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/self-publishing-write-your-story-tickets-162747753913?ref=eios
Happy Birthday Teija
Happy Birthday little sister. You came into our lives when you were so young. You embraced us despite the circumstances.
Storytime: So, I had to add this story and I hope you remember it. There were times when you and two other unnamed sisters made trips to the kitchen late at night to take snacks when y’all were all supposed to be sleeping. Some kind of way you were noisy and always got caught by my mom. Once you were in trouble, you snitched on the other two and y’all were in trouble together. ?
I love that you always have a smile on your face. You are so strong and courageous.
It’s been such a blessing watching you grow over the years into motherhood. You are an amazing mom to my two nieces. I can’t wait to see what God has planned for you. I hope this birthday is amazing and this 27th year of your life is filled with blessings!
Love Wren
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”James 1:17 KJV
Waiting
I was watching the US Olympic trials yesterday and I was listening to the announcers. After several of the women competed, the announcers explained how the competitors had to sit and wait for the judges to make their decision on who would proceed and make it to Japan.
I can’t imagine, training for something pretty much all your life and then you have to sit and wait. At the moment, I thought about how I feel when I’m waiting. I wish I could say I wait patiently, but I’m human and all the time I’m not patient.
But just to think at the moment while we are waiting, we are exactly where God wants us to be. It’s the perfect moment to call on him and guess what he will always answer.
In your moment of waiting for whatever that thing is for you, remember to turn your posture to God and call on him. Because he loves to hear from us.
“But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”
Romans 8:25 KJV
Worry Blueprint
I know this isn’t my typical blog day, but this was on my heart. I’ve been worried about trying to get everything done for an assignment to the point that I was stressed. One thing about emotions is you feel them throughout your body, so when I feel stress I feel the tension in my shoulders first and then it goes to every other part of my body. Once it gets to my mind, it’s the absolute worst, but God woke me up early this morning and allowed me to see this scripture and to have a conversation with him, and immediately I felt better.
I love when I read a scripture and it comes to life for me at that moment. I’ve read this scripture several times, but today, God illuminated my heart and mind to receive it, just for me. I realized this scripture gave personal steps for dealing with anxiety.
How do you deal with anxiety?
1. Don’t worry about anything. For me, I’ve started thinking about other stuff.2. Pray about everything. Pray about whatever you have going on whether big or small.3. Tell God what you need. God, I need...4. Thank him for what he’s already done. God, I thank you for my family, for allowing me to see a new day, etc...
So there you have it, a blueprint to stop worrying. I love to pray scriptures, so you could even turn the scripture into a prayer like:
God you said in your word not to worry.... instead God I’m bringing this situation to you in prayer. God, I need you to help me with...God, I thank you for being a provider with food on the table. I thank you for a new day. I pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen.
Be blessed! ?
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”Philippians 4:6 NLT
Broken Windshields
My friend recently shared a story with me about their car. In the story, they shared they had a crack in their window shield, which they recently repaired. After the repair to the windshield was completed they realized they would still look for the crack in the windshield when they drove around because they were so familiar with it. This story stuck out to me because this is a situation we can often find ourselves in. We leave a broken situation for a little while and on our road to healing or doing something different we miss the old and familiar situation and start looking for the cracks again. Remember, forget the old cracked and broken things and stay on the road to healing.
“He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.” Psalms 147:3 NASB2020
Enjoying the Now
Have you ever worked toward a goal such as a desired salary range, a new position at work, a degree, a certain number of followers on social media, etc...
Once you hit that the goal, what’s next?
You obtain the desired salary, you enjoy it for a quick moment and then you want more.
You get the new job and the excitement quickly goes away after the stress of training.
There’s always a new goal, new accomplishment, or new task that strive towards after the high of reaching your initial goal fades. The sermon at church was recently about this.
My pastor mentioned it is like you are constantly chasing the high of what’s next and not enjoying the now of the moment.
There’s always going to be a new car, new position, more money, bigger house, etc... that you want, but have you taken a moment to be present in the now and trust God with the next thing.
I’m sure many of the things we are experiencing now are answered prayers, which we previously prayed.
I’m making a conscious decision to enjoy them now and I’m trusting God with what’s next. Of course, I still have goals, desires, and things I would like to accomplish, but I’m also going to rest in what I know God has already done and I’ll leave the future to him.
“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?”
Jeremiah 32:27 KJV
All you have to do is ask...
So, what are we waiting for? God already knows when we need help, he’s just waiting for us to ask.“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7 NASB2020
All I Need is Understanding
I believe it was the girls' group, Xscape that said, “What I need from you is understanding. How can we communicate if you don't hear what I say?”
I’ve often said any type of a great relationship takes communication; however, they also take comprehension and understanding.
Storytime: I was texting someone a couple of weeks ago and from my text message I felt like they should have grasped what I was saying. I mean have y’all ever been there? Like you said what you said and in your head, it made complete sense, but once you communicated with the other person they heard or read something completely different? Maybe it is just me. ?
I thought I communicated very effectively in my personal and professional life. I’m sure I even listed “effective communication” on a past resume or two as a skillset. ??
However, sometimes what you are saying and what someone hears or interprets are two completely different things. So, it is important to clarify, read messages in context and ask additional questions if you are unsure because assuming something will have you looking cray-cray, especially when you are wrong.
While this situation stemmed from an experience in my personal life, I’ve seen where this has often happened in other situations as well, especially when people read the Bible. They will read one thing out of context and assume without asking God to help them understand what they are reading. The Bible even tells us don’t lean to our understanding and to acknowledge God.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”Proverbs 3:5-6 NASB2020
Sponsorship
There’s a buzz word going around in corporate America called sponsorship. My understanding of the word is a sponsor is someone who is an advocate for you when you are or aren’t in the room for a position, project, opportunity and etc...A good sponsor should be a person who is asking others - have you considered (insert name).I went to an amazing virtual conference a few weeks ago called Sharp Heels and several of the speakers spoke of sponsorship and how their sponsors helped them obtain new opportunities within their company. Often time when I hear a word I like to think of how it could be used in another context.
When I thought of the word sponsorship- I thought of Jesus Christ. I know there is God the Father, God the son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit - who all make up the Trinity. But I like to think of every one of individually and collectively to make it more relatable for me. Jesus, is our personal advocate - like how sway! He’s sponsoring us in heaven to his father. He’s advocating on our behalf to his Father pleading our case.
Picture this - Jesus is sitting on the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. He’s sees the best in us and also sees our full life from the end to the beginning and advocates for us. ❤️
“who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, but rather, was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”Romans 8:34 NASB2020
My Helper
I recently started a new position at work. Yay me! ?? Once the excitement of the position wore off I was like - what I’m the heck am I going to be doing? ?
I’ll be working in the compliance department, but guess what? I don’t have any prior compliance experience, so I’m going to need reinforcement help outside of my trainer and mentor to calm my mind and my heart when I may feel overwhelmed with new information. So, who do you think I’m calling?
I’ll be calling on the Holy Spirit, who’s also known as our helper. I mentioned before I know God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all part of the Trinity which work cohesively together, but just like the three branches of government all work together, each branch has a separate role and responsibility. (Side note - I heard the three branches of government example on someone’s IG story and I thought that was a great way for me to explain the Trinity)
Anywho, back to the Holy Spirit, he’s our helper.
Have you asked the Holy Spirit to help you lately?
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you.” John 14:26 NASB2020
Band-Aids
Story-time: I was listening to a story a couple of weeks ago about someone who has a garden and there was one patch of an area in which they didn’t plant anything for their dogs to have an area to take care of their business.
The person’s goal was to stop grass from growing in this area.
To temporarily fix this situation they poured mulch over the grass, which worked temporarily until the grass grew through the mulch. So they added more mulch until the grass grew through that also. Eventually, the person became tired of the temporary fixes and grabbed their shovel and dug up all the mulch and the grass- which finally got to the root cause of their issue. They were finally able to stop the grass from growing.
Often time, we know there’s a root cause for a situation, but we only address a symptom instead of dealing with the issue in its entirety and become frustrated when the same problem arises. Dig deep, do the work, identify and address the root cause vs. slapping a band-aid on the situation.
“For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.”Jeremiah 30:17 KJV